capharnaum

American  

[kuh-fahr-nee-uhm] / kəˈfɑr ni əm /

noun

1. a place or environment in complete disorder, especially a room holding miscellaneous objects or junk.

   She didn’t relish the thought of picking through that capharnaum of rusty tools and broken furniture in the old workshop.

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Etymology

Origin of capharnaum

First recorded in 1860–65; from French, alternative spelling of Capernaum ( def. ), where, according to the Bible, large crowds gathered to hear Jesus preach

Example Sentences

Muslin curtains, fairly white, carefully screened this lumber-room—a capharnaum, as the French call such a domestic laboratory,—which was lighted by windows looking out on a neighboring yard.

From The Purse by Balzac, Honoré de